MBN USA

February 14, 2023

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Inventech provides technical repair and support services to the food and beverage industry

By M.V. Greene

For Bennie Washington, owner of Inventech Services LLC — a Fort Worth, Texas, company that provides technical repair and support services to the food and beverage industry — the customer is always the focus.

Washington, who founded her company in 2006, has been making inroads her entire career in a male-dominated business. She said any future success will be rooted in her reverence for her customers.

“My customer service is exceptional,” Washington said. “Even though I am not a big service center, I treat all my customers with respect. I make sure they are well taken care of. I go far and beyond what needs to be done.”

In food and beverage, Inventech Services repairs and supports client equipment that includes hand-held devices and terminals, barcode scanners and printers for route drivers responsible for tracking inventory and fulfilling orders. Large customers in the industry may have 10,000 to 15,000 mobile hand-held terminals deployed at any given time, serving thousands of routes, Washington said.

As a woman and minority business owner, Washington launched Inventech after working for more than 15 years in the field. A previous employer had sold the operations, and it was time for her to strike out on her own.

Washington is prideful about her positioning and experience in the field — a woman “working with all men back then,” she said.

Washington said she was intent on acquiring as much knowledge as she could about the nuts-and-bolts of how the food and beverage repair industry operated. While actual repair of equipment always has been her bailiwick, at one point during her earlier career, Washington began working as a customer support specialist, travelling extensively in a region that included Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and New Mexico. She also serviced clients in the Monterrey, Mexico, region and Canada.

“I learned how to do everything and worked on everything. I learned shipping and receiving, inventory control, telephone technical support and training other technicians. Wherever help was needed, I helped,” she said.

As she builds Inventech for what she expects to be an exciting future, Washington believes that the diverse roles she assumed during her career will serve the business well. She notes that as a woman and minority owner, she faces several challenges, primarily getting prospective customers to realize her company can do the job.

“The biggest job is getting to the customer and getting my name out there. Doing the work is not an issue,” Washington said.

To raise her firm’s profile, Washington is moving to more aggressive marketing, including social media and the internet. She also is maintaining contact for networking and educational opportunities with organizations that support diverse businesses, such as the Dallas-based Women’s Foodservice Forum (WFF), which seeks to eliminate barriers that women face in the industry; the Regional Hispanic Contractors Association, which addresses business and political concerns of its members; and the Dallas Fort Worth Minority Supplier Development Council (DFW MSDC), which certifies and advocates for minority-owned business enterprises.

Supply chain issues for parts represent another challenge, Washington said, as many companies’ equipment is proprietary, making it difficult sometimes for a small shop like hers to access needed parts.  

Washington understands there always will be impediments to doing business. Ultimately, her goal is to assure potential clients that Inventech – and its base of contractors – have the experience and knowledge to do the job.

“I want to grow. I want to be one of the best minority-owned companies out there in this field. It is time for me to open the door and come out of the closet. I have a lot to do, and I am looking for that challenge,” Washington said.

To learn more about Inventech Services LLC, Visit inventechtx.com.